To add thematic complexity and make them seem more contemporary, shonen anime frequently mix official and unauthorized genres. Examples include Bleach’s usage of isekai traditions and Jujutsu Kaisen’s partly horror anime status. The “monster hunter” subgenre emphasizes skilled hunters who use specialized weaponry to pursue demons or other monsters in anime.
D. Gray-Man, Fire Force, and, perhaps most notably, Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man are examples of these. The last two depict how terrible and dangerous it may be to hunt man-eating monsters for a livelihood, but in one of these series, the risk is much worse.
The Demon Slayer Corps’ Dangerous Quests
The world of Demon Slayer sees flesh-eating demons roam the night, terrorizing local towns and villages with claws and fangs. These demons were once human — mutated into supernatural predators thanks to Muzan Kibutsuji’s blood — and only human flesh can sustain them. They have many natural advantages over humans, from enhanced speed and strength to their trademark ability to rapidly heal most wounds, even lost limbs. Stronger demons such as Yahaba and the twelve Moons also have blood demon arts, their own version of My Hero Academia’s Quirks or Naruto’s jutsu. Demons only come out at night, forcing demon slayers to fight these creatures on their own turf, so to speak.
Professional demon slayers fight back with their Nichrin swords, forged from sun-soaked ores that can permanently slay a demon via decapitation. These slayers can also temporarily boost their power with specialized breathing techniques, ranging from Tengen Uzui’s Sound Breathing to Zenitsu Agatsuma’s thunder breathing and protagonist Tanjiro Kamado’s Water Breathing.
Demon slayers also get logistical support from local inns, who protect them with walls but also wisteria flowers to repel demons. However, these warriors’ casualty rates are high, and even the nine Hashira can’t easily face the threat of an upper Moon like the aggressive Akaza or the Daki/Gyutaro duo. It’s telling that most of the slayers Tanjiro meets are in their late 20s at the oldest.
Find out how the Chainsaw Man demon hunters protect themselves and slay demons
In Chainsaw Man, set in an alternate 1990s world, the Tokyo city government hires professional devil hunters to locate and destroy all devils who threaten humanity. They are split between public safety employees and the private sector, with the former being paid a proper salary as government employees. Protagonist Denji/Chainsaw Man and his fiendish partner Power both work for public safety’s 4th division under the mysterious Makima, giving viewers a taste of what this job is really like.
Devil hunters may use their own weapons — such as Aki Hayakawa’s katana — but they also make use of their own devil allies and fiends to fight fire with fire. Devil hunters capture devils not out of mercy, but to form contracts with them and fight other devils with equal power. Doing this comes with a cost, however. Then there are outliers like Denji and Power who are unusual even by 4th Division standards, with Denji being a unique human/devil hybrid and Power being a fiend who uses her own blood to form weapons.
As government employees in 1990s Japan, the devil hunters are well-supported logistically. They can use era-appropriate cell phones to contact one another, and can drive to any devil’s location in a car. They can form large groups to take on stronger devils and have all the other necessary accommodations in Tokyo, from housing to electricity. Not even in Taisho-era Japan could demon slayers enjoy all those advantages.
Chainsaw Man’s Devil Hunters vs Demon Slayers: Whose job is harder?
Both monster hunter jobs are difficult and entail many serious dangers, since devils and demons wield fearsome supernatural powers that human weapons and tactics can barely match. That said, demon slayers definitely have it tougher overall. The biggest issue is that they lack modern conveniences such as cars, cell phones and dial-up Internet connections, all of which the devil hunters can regularly use in Chainsaw Man.
The warriors in Demon Slayer find it more difficult to team up or respond to emergencies elsewhere since their communication is so slow, even with the aid of crows. If a demon slayer squad is in trouble, help might arrive far too late, while devil hunters can take cover and use a cell phone to call for reinforcements — which may arrive in a speeding car.
Demon slayers also face a more organized enemy than devil hunters. While most ordinary demons are loners, there’s also Muzan Kibutsuji and his twelve Demon Moons. These elite demons may command entire squads of minions, or at least coordinate with one another and Muzan himself to slaughter the Hashira with frightening precision. No devil in Chainsaw Man would ever do that — they are more like wild animals, obeying their own instincts and paying little attention to one another. Denji and Power would be in bigger trouble if there was a devil Moons organization with a devil Muzan, but fortunately there isn’t.
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